Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha has sought time with President Draupadi Murmu to report alleged “targeted action” against former AAP MPs who merged with the BJP last month.
According to sources quoted by news agency ANI, Chadha will meet the president to report the misuse of state machinery in Punjab for “political vendetta”. Sources said Murmu granted time to Chadha and three other MPs at 10.40 am on May 5.
Chadha along with Rajya Sabha MPs Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Swati Maliwal, Vikramjit Singh Sahni, Harbhajan Singh and Rajinder Gupta left the Aam Aadmi Party and merged with the BJP in the Upper House. This allowed them to retain Rajya Sabha membership, given the two-thirds exception provided by the anti-defection law.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is also scheduled to meet the President on May 5. Mann was given time at 12 noon for the meeting, where the Punjab minister said he would “strongly present the voice of Punjab” before the President, PTI reported. Mann sought time to demand the “recall” of AAP MPs who had merged with the BJP.
FIR against Sandeep Pathak, raid on Rajinder Gupta Trident Limited
Two FIRs have been lodged against Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak in Punjab, days after he left the AAP and moved to the BJP. Government sources said the FIRs, further details of which are yet to be revealed, have been registered under non-bailable sections, according to an earlier HT report.
“Punjab Police is making efforts to arrest the accused as FIRs have been registered under non-bailable sections,” sources said. Amid reports of FIRs, Pathak was seen leaving his residence in Delhi on Saturday. Although no official confirmation was given regarding the complaints, Pathak, when asked about the same, told ANI that he had “no idea of any FIR against me”.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Pollution Control Board conducted a raid on the headquarters of Trident Limited earlier this week on April 30. Rajya Sabha MP Rajender Gupta, one of the MPs who left AAP, is the founder and honorary chairman of the company.
Before this, the Punjab government had also withdrawn security cover from MP and former cricketer Harbhajan Singh.
BJP claims ‘political vendetta’ after FIRs
Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, in a post on X website, accused the AAP of “double standards”. “Those whom your leader used to call the apple of his eye a few days ago, today, as soon as they change their party, flaws start showing up in them. Isn’t this evidence of the Aam Aadmi Party’s double standards?” Jakhar asked.
Speaking to reporters, Jakhar also said that the BJP was not intimidated by the FIRs and asserted that the party stands firm by its leaders. The Punjab BJP president said he did not have the full details of the FIRs, but stated that “one is related to making a threat to someone and the other is related to corruption charges,” PTI reported.
